Everybody Benefits from Braces!

Braces aren’t just for pre-adolescents and teenagers anymore! Anyone, at any age, can benefit from orthodontic care; whether it is correcting a problem not treated in your younger years, or catching a problem early.

To ensure the best overall treatment, the American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children receive an orthodontic consultation as early as age seven. If a problem is evident, taking action early can spare a lot of treatment and expense down the road.

If you never received orthodontic treatment when you were young, don’t worry! You’re never too old for a beautiful smile. Set up an appointment for a consultation and find out how adult orthodontics will transform your smile, and your life!

What’s so Special About an Orthodontist?

We often find our patients wondering about the difference between an orthodontist and a dentist. Dr. McAnnally started out in dental school and got a DDS (dental) degree, just like your dentist. But after dental school, Dr. McAnnally decided he/she wanted to learn more about orthodontics, which is one of nine specialties in the dental field. So he/she stayed in a school for a few more years to become an expert in orthodontics, which focuses on tooth and jaw alignment and bite problems such as overbites and underbites.

Other dental specialties you may have heard of include endodontics (focusing on the soft tissue inside your teeth), periodontics (focusing on the gums and other tissues surrounding your teeth) and prosthodontics (focusing on restoring and replacing damaged teeth).

Isn’t it nice to know there’s a dental expert to help you through any type of treatment your teeth, jaw and gums might need?

Is Invisalign Really Customized for Each Patient?

Yes, it is, and that’s part of what makes it work. If you were a candidate for Invisalign treatment, the first thing we’d do is to take an impression of your teeth as they are now and digitize it. Using special software, we would then look at this current positioning and compare that to the ideal placement of your teeth – in other words, exactly where we would want them to end up.

Next we’d use the software to map out the exact path your teeth would take from now through the end of your treatment. Based on this precise prescription, a set of custom aligners would be created specially for your teeth. Throughout the course of treatment, you’d wear these clear, removable aligners one at a time, each one moving your teeth closer and closer to their final, perfectly aligned position. And the whole time it would be your secret, since the aligners are virtually invisible!

Dr. McAnnally is a certified Invisalign provider. If you have questions about Invisalign, or would like to find out if you are a candidate for Invisalign treatment, give us a call at (248) 647-0696.